Unshakable Things

Welcome to Have You Not Read? A podcast seeking to answer questions from the text of scripture for the honor of Christ and the edification of the saints.

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I'm Dylan Hamilton and with me are Michael Durham. And Andrew Hudson. Today we're going to set up our question by giving a little bit of framing before we start.

Michael, would you go ahead and do that for us? Yeah, I think this is a question, Dylan, that you've asked a while back and we're going to kind of work on it a bit in this episode, but I think it's a question that a lot of people have in a broad spectrum.

How do we live faithfully in the now and truly take up our responsibilities and the work that the

Lord has set before us and to do that well in a wise way, given the instability of our times and the anxiety that we sometimes have about the future.

I mean, considering the trajectory of things, I mean, anybody who has any wisdom is going to say things are not good right now and they're accelerating into further chaos and problems.

So given that, what significance does my work and labor and efforts now have in light of the problems that we are looking at?

Okay, so in 2022, I submitted a question to the website. It reads,

I'm a young adult believer. I rest in God's sovereignty for the future and I realize he is shaking up those things with faulty foundations, which brings me to the unshakable.

Having taken the advice to invest myself in very shakable institutions and enterprises like a college degree, real estate, and a job that produces very little, if any good,

I hear preaching on unshakable things from men I greatly respect. But when asked practical questions about how to navigate the shakeup, many of the same men point back to practical advice that worked before the shakeup, those things like college degrees, real estate, et cetera.

What direction does the Bible give us in times of shakeups that we can leverage to not just see our family through, but thriving on the other side?

And I'd like to add to that question. We talked about this beforehand. Also, how does my responsibilities as a husband and as a father going into these shakeups and beyond, how should

I be training myself in responsibilities now in order to fulfill those roles faithfully in the future? Good question.

And generally, when we consider some of these large and complicated quandaries, we have to begin with what's the most basic and build out from there.

It's sort of like if a pilot is flying and they're in the middle of a storm or in the middle of fog or something like that, they're just going to have to rely on their instruments and pay attention to that.

And so in times like these, and I don't think that they're unique just to our generation.

There have been many terrible, terrible times in the history of our world and living in times of disruption.

Are you talking like they're uniquely general, as in like there are unique things that happen throughout history?

Sure. But they are the things that happen throughout history. Yeah, and they're the most important times anyone has ever lived in because I live in them.

That's not the truth of it though. Right. I've got to begin to think about how my life is supposed to operate, how

I'm supposed to prioritize, what I'm supposed to do, not in light of the times necessarily.

The times are important. I understand the times in which I live, but in light of the eternal God who made me in his image.

So, and I think Dylan, you mentioned things about relationships and so on. And so the times aren't going to change the fact that I'm made in God's image.

Totally. Yeah, so I'm still going to need to organize my life in the fear of the

Lord before the face of God. I need to be loving him supremely, loving others rightly, beginning with my wife and children and church family and so on and so forth.

I'd love God supremely, love others rightly, steward everything that God has entrusted to me in the most wise fashion possible.

And that's going to be the general framework. That hasn't changed. I mean, that didn't even change after the fall.

That was still there after the flood. You talk about a transition. You talk about a time of chaos and transition.

God comes right back to the creation mandate about how we're supposed to operate to fill the earth with his glory.

And that's just going to be there no matter what. So that's going to help me with a general framework and I can begin to meditate upon the word of God and how it relates to my life and begin to make some connections.

And that's going to give me some guidance right away. And then also you find examples in the scripture about what

God would say to his people in difficult times. How are they supposed to respond? And in general, it's going to be a combination of thinking of the

Lord and thinking of how rightly to treat each other and how to take care of the things that God has given them. So for example, in Jeremiah 29, the people of Israel who were exiled to Babylon did not want to stay in Babylon.

They hated Babylon. They loathed their captors. All they talked about was getting back home.

They wanted to talk about the impermanence of their situation. They wanted to think in terms of, even though I was brought here 10 years ago,

I am 100 % going to go back there and we're going to restart. And this was their entire mindset.

But in fact, they're going to be there for a long time. And that was difficult. And what did

God tell to Jeremiah to tell them? Stop listening to the false prophets who want to tell you what you want to hear.

Smooth things, baby. Nothing but that. Yes, so instead, this is the word of the Lord to those people in their difficult period.

Jeremiah 29, verse five, build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit, take wives and beget sons and daughters and take wives for your sons and give your daughters two husbands so that they may bear sons and daughters that you may be increased there and not diminished.

Now, when you think about a people in captivity, they tend to diminish.

But if God is with them, if God blesses them, then what happens to a people in captivity?

Well, they increase. Think about the children of Israel in Egypt. Yeah, and think about how many, how they multiplied even in Babylon.

And then not only that, he says in verse seven, seek the peace, seek the shalom of the city where I have carried you to be carried away, caused you to be carried away captive and pray to the

Lord for it. For in its peace, you will have peace. And then he goes on to warn them about the false prophets who would tell them something different.

So in this, you have in verse seven, recognizing the Lord's sovereignty and praying to him, recognizing that everything depends upon him, blessing and giving peace.

And because in its peace, you will have peace. So there's the loving God supremely. Verse six is all about loving others rightly and increasing your families.

And verse five is about proper administration of what's been entrusted to them. And they were greatly diminished.

They used to have a whole land. Now they just have houses and gardens. Forgive me for interrupting here, but is some of this kind of a reiteration of what happened in Genesis, with a house dwelt outside Eden?

Is that what you're saying? No, no, no, where, he's actually telling them to dwell in gardens here, to plant gardens, to beget sons and daughters.

Is this sort of a poetic reiteration of those commands? Or it almost seems kind of comical because if you're in captivity, you're not thinking

Eden. Yeah, but he is talking about thrival. Right, yeah. We're never going to find ourselves in a situation so bad that we've been flung out of the orbit of the image of God.

This is who he has made us to be. And so these principles are just going to be there no matter where we're at because God is our maker.

He is our creator. We've been made to image him forth to bring him glory. And it's not some sort of secret

Gnostic sauce about how to do that. So in this particular bad situation, they're to pray for the prosperity and peace and productivity of their oppressors.

Okay, that's hard. That is really, really hard. I don't want to do that. Now, in the path of things,

God may break the jaw of the oppressors. He may put them down into the ground. He may make them eat grass for seven years.

But over time, what are we praying for? We're praying that they would be right with God, that they would be humbled before God and that things would progress in a way that God is just undeniable in this situation.

And there's going to be tough times through that. So I think given the day and age in which we live, our fears and our anxieties are filled with more information than in previous generations, without a doubt.

But I don't think they're necessarily filled with more understanding. You're saying like blind irrational fears of the past versus maybe feeling more informed about these are actual fears that hold some weight.

Yes. But really, do they hold weight? So if you were living in maybe the 1300s, the fears and anxieties which may make you feel when you're in the field doing your work and labor, oh, this could all just be wiped out tomorrow.

Who knows what could happen? And that could be very discouraging versus somebody today who is filled with all manner of factoids about all the different possibilities but we're not really improved.

We haven't really improved the situation at all by replacing the unknown with factoids that we don't even know if they're actually coherent to something plausible.

It could really be the propaganda of a poster about electrification of the United States bringing about a great evil.

That was a funny poster we looked at the other day. It was called an unrestrained demon and it was a scare tactic to say, you don't want electricity running through the streets and killing everybody.

So fear it. Yes, yeah. So that's where we have to remember, the Bible says the fear of death is slavery.

Fear of man is a snare. But how much does the Bible say about the fear of the Lord? Oh, it's life and health to the bones.

It delivers us from all manner of problems. It's the beginning of wisdom and knowledge and understanding.

And so when we're thinking of God, oh, I'm made in his image. Oh, this is who I'm to be.

So this, I think, sets the major framework for what we're supposed to be about. And I think some of the things,

Dylan, that you mentioned in your question, I think deals more with the tactics than the strategy.

So the strategy is living in the image of God, do all these things. Now the tactics may change based on your situation.

It may not be best to send our children to a four -year institution, saddle them with loads of debt, and then mention to them that I'll be spending all of my retirement on me.

And we also expect grandchildren, by the way, see ya. Now that doesn't sound like a very sound tactic to match the strategy of being made in God's image to glorify him through every avenue of our lives.

So we have to evaluate the tactics. Does this fit? Now sometimes some of the tactics that are available to us are not the ones we would prefer.

So we would prefer something big. We would prefer something impressive. We would prefer something dramatic that would really just catapult us forward in the work that is set before us.

Sometimes that's not available. I believe there will be moments like that from time to time in a person's life.

But I think for the most part, we're talking about small incremental growth, like leavening a lump, small things just growing over time.

And we can't despise the small things of loving our wives, disciplining our children, and making what improvements we can.

Preparing for things like, in any given generation, we should be prepared for a famine.

In any given generation, we should be prepared for a storm. Those are things to think about. But we shouldn't live in fear, constant fear of that happening, but we should be prepared.

Go to the aunt you sluggard, consider her ways and be wise. She doesn't have to have a taskmaster cracking the whip and telling her what to do.

She just does it on her own. Wow, look at that. Hey, that's something that we should think about. There's a tactic right there.

I should be writing down, here are some things that I can do to better maximize how

I worship God, how I love my family and love others, how I manage that which

God has entrusted to me. And over time, where we end up is not where we were by the grace of God.

But they're not big things, they're small things. Sometimes looking at the end of the problem and looking at a goal state, you can start to work backwards, right?

Like, okay, well, if I wanna get the Z, that means I had to do Y and X. Okay, well, the next step, there might be a logical conclusion for today.

The next step is waking up an hour earlier because I want to study the word before I do this thing.

This question, I know it's not directly related, but when I think about what

God has done, and how many times in the scriptures were we reminded, and I say we, were the people of God reminded of what

God had done in the past for them, you know? As his people, not that they deserved it, but that he was their

God and they were his people. Think about, you know, how many times people rebelled against Moses, rebelled against God, and the reminder of all the things that God has done for them.

And I think about the promised land, and I think about Joshua's admonition to know, you know, like, today the faithfulness is throwing away your idols and let's go.

You know, we're gonna serve, me and my household, we're gonna serve the Lord, you know?

Let's put away your idols and let's go do this. I think the temptation really is there are giants in the land.

Or there's a lion in the streets. Yeah, that one. And I'm not trying to make it seem like we're the ones who are going into the promised land to conquer.

But I think the temptation is to see adversity and go back to something you're comfortable with.

So maybe there's something that you're comfortable with that just needs to go. And that's what today's faithfulness was all about, right?

Going back to the question kind of I was originally asked, and I'm glad you mentioned worship earlier because I do think all these things flow out from worship.

Worship's first and all these things. I think we get that precedent from Genesis in how creation is logically stepped out and then what we are to do as men created in the image of God.

I think, back to the question though, is I think we have actually been pretty good. The men that I'm talking about in pulpits are giving advice on conference stages and stuff like that.

I actually think they've been pretty good at pointing out the principles like we've kind of been talking about and pointing out the posture you should have toward all these things and asking for the

Lord must bless these things. And then their practical advice on the back side doesn't match it. Okay, so.

Like they're saying the water's poisoned but they're still drinking the water. I wouldn't say necessarily that far.

I think they don't know what's poisoned. I don't think they, like they're trying to sell you something that's necessarily bad and they know it.

I think sometimes there are polluted areas where you can have wealth quickly, especially if you have the right credit score, and you can't have an expansion in wealth that I view in certain areas as principally wrong or ethically wrong.

And they're not seeing it. And so, and not having many men in the church that understand those things, how their practical advice is playing out or how it's ethically an issue, that may be more toward how, and I as an individual now who might see these things, how do

I navigate that? Again, we were talking about incentives earlier. How do I navigate that when the incentives are actually driving me?

Yeah, perverse incentives. Yeah, so I think there's going to have to be some degree of re -evaluation of what is value, what is worthwhile, what is going to retain value over long periods of time, and in a reassessment of not just accepting what is generally thought of as valuable and good, but identifying with biblical principles that which is truly valuable, long -lasting.

And I'm not talking about just treasure stored up in heaven and so on.

I'm talking about the fully -orbed Christian life. There are things that are truly valuable and worthwhile, and the

Lord wants us to be about those things and invest in those things. All these things matter to the

Lord. So we have to, I think, first of all, identify those things clearly. What are those things?

And then recognize that the Lord abhors faulty measures, unjust weights, and so on and so forth.

He's not for mobs, corrupting justice. He's not for bribes, all those things.

So we're not going to take avenues that are full of corruption and sin. Okay, but I do want to pursue that which is good,

I know is biblically valuable. And then you have to begin to identify what ways do

I pursue that? What ways has God made available? What are those avenues?

What are those paths? So to me, there has to be biblical meditation on it, biblical brainstorming.

We're going to get our categories right. We're going to get our qualifiers right. And then we're going to get our options right.

And then we're going to start pursuing those things. Now, the way in which this man with his set of talents and his opportunities pursues that is different than this man over here.

And God genuinely loves that kind of diversity. Just look at his creation.

Look at all the various ways in which he has made. We don't have to do everything exactly the same way.

For the actual particulars, people like saying, just plug and play this scheme and here comes a better life.

That's not actually how it works. It has to be done with a dependence upon the Lord concerning the providences that he has brought uniquely into our lives.

Sometimes we resist that. Sometimes it's, I don't want these providences in my life because that person over there, if I had their providences, if I had what

God gave to them. I could do so much more. Yes. So this puts us out of sorts with the

Lord. That's covetous. Yeah, that's covetousness. One of the most important things is we don't blame God. Matthew 25 verse 14, for the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.

And to one, he gave five talents and to another two and to another one, to each according to his own ability.

So he knows the ability and so he entrusted them accordingly. And immediately he went on a journey. Then he who received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents.

Now we're not told exactly what he did, but he did it. And then likewise he who had received two gained two more also.

Ostensibly it would be a whole different pattern than what the other guy did. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground and hid his

Lord's money. So after a long time, the Lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. You like how

Jesus is dealing with the financials So he had received the five talents, came and brought five other talents, saying,

Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Look, I have gained five more talents besides them. Lord said to him, well done, good and faithful servant.

You were faithful over a few things. I'll make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. And then Luke's version in Luke 12, he gives him like cities, like 10 cities to rule.

Verse 22, he also who had received two talents came and said, Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Look, I have gained two more talents besides them.

His Lord said, well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things.

Enter into the joy of the Lord. Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.

But his Lord answered and said to him, you wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed.

So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers and at my coming, I would have received back my own with interest.

So take the talent from him and give it to him who has 10 talents. For to everyone who has more will be given and he will have abundance.

But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away and cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.

There'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So Jesus is telling this parable is when he ascended to heaven, he has all authority in heaven and on earth.

And everybody who is made in God's image is accountable to the Son of Man, to the second

Adam, he rules over all. And so he is the one who distributes to all because all has been given to him.

So whatever we have, we have from the hand of our good King Jesus. So now what do we do with it? And Jesus tells the one who hated him, the one who accused him, the one who shook his fist at him, he says, you could have at least deposited what

I gave you with the bankers and there would have been more. There would have been interest. You didn't do anything.

It didn't cost him anything but just let them have the money to go do some money changing with it. Exactly. The same amount of effort as burying it, you know?

Right, but he did the thing that would be the least profitable, the most rebellious thing possible with his funds because he did not give thought, good thought to his master, right?

So we think about, let's think about our King. Let's think about our Lord. Let's think about his generosity and his blessings and all these things that he has given to us, he's entrusted to us according to our ability.

So at once, we're reminded of his grace because he didn't have to give us anything. We're also reminded of our responsibility because he did take note of our ability and he's entrusted these things to us.

Okay, what you gonna do? Wow, it's so wide open, you know? So what

I wanna be doing is what? I wanna be taking whatever God has entrusted to me, whatever that is as one made in his image and I want to be magnifying that, maximizing that, making more of Christ through that, whatever that is because that's what he desires of me.

So how do I do that? And it doesn't always, it doesn't look like the way that my retirement advisor tells me

I should do it. It doesn't look like the way that my tax guy is telling me it should look like.

They don't know, right? But I need to hear the word of the Lord, the will of my

Lord and say, all right, here's how I can maximize this. Here's how

I can maximize that and whatever I've been given, that's what I need to be working with, you know?

And it may seem small in comparison to the experiences of other generations, the experiences of other people with different amounts and opportunities but I'm not to compare myself amongst ourselves.

I have a master, I have a king, he's given me this. What will I do for him with this? One question that kind of comes to mind is maybe you have a young man who doesn't recognize how many talents he's got.

If you, like say Bing comes to you or one of your sons comes to you and they're looking for that sort of counsel and even if, what if you've got an older guy in the congregation who maybe, you know, between 35 to 45 and they haven't got out of that rut yet and they still don't know and they're looking for counsel and they can't get it anywhere else, how are you counseling that individual, especially tactically?

Yeah, so tactically to get there, he needs to know what he has, right? So like if you're sitting at a chess board, every once in a while you get, you know, you're asked to look at a chess puzzle and you're looking at the situation, you see all the pieces in, it's the middle of a game and they want you to find the best move, right?

If you don't know how to take inventory of that position and see how everything is relating, you're gonna have no idea what the best move is gonna be and one of the things to do is to help someone take inventory of where they're at so that they know, you know, what is there in potential.

One of the best ways to do that is by thanksgiving, right? To coach and disciple and to train someone to be thankful is a way of taking stock of all the blessings that have been entrusted to me, right?

When you - Counting them, naming them one by one. Well, yes, like the hymn says, but we were reminded in First Thessalonians that we are to, in everything, give thanks, which reminds us that thanksgiving is something of a spiritual discipline, that it's something that we are to take accounting of everything and give thanks for all of that and every time you give thanks for everything that is in everything, you're just highlighting that, highlighting this, highlighting that, highlighting this by thanking the

Lord for it and then you are better aware of the situation that you're in. Okay, so now, what can

I do with this? Right, and you're not just saying physical or financial assets, but maybe gifting and abilities or -

Giftings and abilities, relationships, you know, if the Lord has blessed you with a wife, oh my.

Right. Like, you know, how much wonderful value is there that the king looks upon your marriage, he who finds a wife finds a good thing, obtains favor from the

Lord. The king is smiling upon your marriage, how will you make this more beautiful to the

Lord? The raising of your children, the maximizing of all the things that God, you know, your house, your land, your crops, your animals, whatever it is,

Jesus is king of all of it, right? He's the king of all of it and if we don't make a listing of everything we have, you know, by me being thankful for it all, it's from him, it's for him, so now

I need to be trying to maximize it and then just being honest, I think sometimes I think that men get into the doldrums and get into stuck in inertia because there's like so many things and how can

I be a good steward of all those at the same time and that can be overwhelming and sometimes there needs to be a bit of focusing and streamlining and saying, okay, don't look at all of it right now, focus in here, focus in here, and try to show where to start and then sometimes you're just gonna have to cut some things out of your life that, you know, if you can't thank

God for it, why is it there? And that's gonna cull some of those things out and then

I often think of terms of RPM, repair, progress, and maintenance. So if all my time is doing maintenance and keeping things up and I'm falling behind so that repair begins to take more and more of a toll on me,

I'll be making no progress. So I've gotta think about how to change up that dynamic.

If I'm trying to maintenance too many things, that's gonna be the problem. I'm gonna have to streamline that down so I can actually make some progress and not allow the repairs to overwhelm me.

So those are just some practical things to think about. In the text that you cited from Jeremiah 29 verses five through I believe we got through seven, is he giving them a list to focus on?

Like you just talked about there, build houses, take wives, beget children, plant trees, take the fruit of the trees?

When are we most happy? You know, I don't know if happiness is, you know, if I'm situational and so on and so, but just genuinely,

I mean, when are we most shalom, at peace, everything in order, content, so on and so forth?

It's when everything that we're involved with is in shalom with everybody in our life.

Everything's in this place. So if I can understand that my labor, if I can really see in the

Lord how my labor, how my work and so on and so forth is directly blessing and benefiting the people that the

Lord has put into my life, and I can do that in thankfulness to him, you know, you can be really content with that.

I think sometimes we get, you know, with all this extra information, we're being told, you know, here's all this information and if you don't have this achievement in your life yet, or if you're not this over here yet, and so on and so forth, that can really, really be a huge burden.

But what if, you know, what if we're not called to save the world? God already sent his son for that, right?

And we're part of the world that he's saving, and it's perfectly fine to provide for our children, you know, our wife and children, and in the place that we live, and to make the most of it and make it better and launch our children as arrows from our quiver to something even better, can we be content with that?

I can be joyful in that. You know, I don't have to be somebody else or something else's standard. All I have to do is get up in the morning, swear fealty to my king, thank him for all his blessings, and get to work, you know?

In that final estimation, I think about what Paul's talking about in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

You know, when you get to the end of all things, it's Christ who gives us the victory. Who has won the victory? Now, to be steadfast and immovable is the calling.

That's, it's a daily thing. You know, we were talking, I mentioned in between recordings something about hydration being a daily battle.

It's not a war that you've done it once, and okay, well, now

I'm hydrated. It's a daily thing, and I thank God that we can come to him each and every day and be filled with him, knowing that it is satisfactory in our service to him.

We don't have to worry about rising up early or staying into the wee hours of the night and into the morning working for our own sake.

It's for him. I could be asleep and he's providing food for me. Yeah, and that's the lesson of the

Sabbath, wasn't it? It was. So that you don't have to keep living as slaves. Remember the

Sabbath day, keep it holy. God made all things and provided all things in six days.

You don't have to pretend like you don't have a provider and a creator. And then he gave you what was on those other six days.

Right. And then he gave you more on the Sabbath, you know? And then we remember that he has given us his son.

Yes. How will he not also with him freely give us all things? Christ being the fulfillment of the

Sabbath, and we can find our rest in him, that God will definitely provide all things for us. But I think what you said was important,

Andrew. We have got to come to him time and time again for our daily provision. Jesus, this is how you pray.

You pray to the Lord for your daily provision. And you don't worry about tomorrow, although there's wisdom in preparing.

You don't worry about tomorrow because the only thing God has asked us to do is to live each day he's given to us, trusting in him for everything.

It's a humbling position to be put in as children looking for the provision, but also it's a very anxiety -releasing, peace -filled way of living.

And we're going to learn, I think, as we go to the word of God and as we pray for his provision of wisdom and opportunities and put things into practice and listen to one another and seek counsel and all those principles of wisdom and so on, we're going to learn how to maximize and to make progress and do, and it's not gonna look like standard answers from a past generation.

It's just not gonna look like that. We do have to take - Times change. Yeah, we have to take real stock about what is the situation in our day.

We shouldn't be silversmiths in the age of Solomon. That would be pretty dumb. So it's not saying we put our head in the sand and go into Zen mode and don't think about anything.

That's not what we're called to do, but we are called to a daily trust. So maybe the short answer to kind of the parts of this question, if you're looking for tactics, seek counsel from men who know you and you're willing to give them information about your situation, and they can help you move forward, especially if it's somebody who you think has a good principle reading on the current situation.

You talked about the sons of Issachar. Yes. What was that, like two years ago now or something like that?

Yeah, yeah, and in that vein, you want to find a man like that, especially one you trust and trust with your situation to bring it across to them to give you the counsel there, wouldn't you?

Yes, to understand the times, not to be captured in fear by the times, but to understand the times, and to somebody who will listen to your situation and will seek to love you and to help you where you're at.

And I think that in a multitude of counselors, there is victory. So not just one, but somebody who is willing to take the scriptures and help you engage your particulars with the eternals.

Amen, well, I think that about wraps it up. What are we recommending for content this week, Michael? I've got a book by a collection of guys,

Steve Jeffrey, Michael Ovie, and Andrew Sack. He wrote a book called Pierced for Our Transgressions, Rediscovering the

Glory of Penal Substitution. Pierced for Our Transgressions was written, oh, probably about 10 years ago, no wait, even more, probably about 15 years ago when the hot controversy of the time was a questioning about the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.

And so they wrote this book, a very biblical and historical survey of the doctrine of penal substitution and addressing the complaints and challenges from false teachers of the time.

And I think that going back and carefully reflecting on how it is that God saves us through his son, it's just always a good thing to do.

Amen, Andrew? I'm gonna go with the inversion of this, what not to watch, what not to watch.

It goes along with our theme of this episode. Don't be consumed with fear media.

And so I'm just gonna quote from Colossians 3. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ who is our life appears, then you also appear with him in glory. Now, I don't wanna stop there because Colossians 3 has much to say about putting to death certain things and living towards certain things.

There is enough to be fearful and worried about on a minute by minute basis.

Do not let your life be consumed with the media of distraction via fear.

That reminds me of most of the other lists that Paul has to meditate upon or exhorts his people he's writing letters to.

He talks about meditating on certain things that are true, noble, and pure, and just, and all those things. He does it over and over to every church.

Maybe they had things to worry about back then, I don't know. Pretty sure they did.

Uniquely general. Right. I wonder what their version of doom scrolling was.

Well, maybe it was, you know, what was happening exactly in the city square. Like, oh, did you hear about this? And the influencers were the guys up on stages acting out what was gonna happen because Athena was upset.

Oh, indeed, yeah. Well, my recommendation is Family Shepherds by Vati Bakum.

I read this four years ago, or four and a half years ago now. We understood we were pregnant pretty quickly after we'd been married, and we found out

Killian was a boy, and so I was prepping myself for sons. I'd been around brothers all my life.

I'd been around men all my life in many settings, but rarely ever had I been around a large group of Christian men and how to raise children in the fear and admonition of the

Lord. My upbringing and heritage is one of athletics, so you can imagine the very far end of good and bad you can get within athletics, and so that's what

I understood to be manhood, and I was taught many good things. I was taught things that I didn't realize were more biblical than I thought they were, and so I was given many good things, but given a way to raise children and especially sons by pastoring them or shepherding them, as he kind of put it, and just setting up, simply setting up an order of family worship on a daily or biweekly basis, or however it's going to look for your family.

Doing those types of things, I realized it required of me loads more thought and loads more meditation upon how the

Lord might want to have me teach and discipline and exhort my children in the ways that they were made, and it was very helpful, especially as a young father starting out, to take my family through family worship, so I recommend that to all the readers and listeners out there.

Michael, what are we thankful for this week? I am thankful for unique opportunities to serve people.

You know, if you're ever asked to spend some time with somebody and pray for them or talk to them about something, each one of those opportunities is so unique.

You don't know if you're ever gonna get that again, you know, and just going in prayerfully and then seeing just how the

Lord works to bring good out of each one of those situations. It's not something to fear and to dread, but to think about the person that you're gonna have the opportunity to serve and to love and minister to and to pray for them, and then the fear kind of goes away, you know, when you're thinking about how you can love this person and be a blessing to them, and the

Lord's been giving me lots of unique opportunities to minister to people lately. I was telling my wife the other day,

I can just feel the whole thing shifting under me about pastoral ministry, and kind of growing up in the pulpit.

You know, I started preaching when I was 25 years old, pastoring when I was 25, and everything is just shifting now to where the

Lord is just letting me have more opportunities to shepherd and to pastor than to simply be one who preaches and teaches, you see, and the whole thing is just kind of shifting, and it's like, this is really interesting to see what the

Lord's doing here, and I'm just thankful for those opportunities, and the Lord always comes through. You know, He's always there in a way before me and after me to use

His word to the benefit of His people. Would you say that's something you've been really looking forward to in pastoral ministry?

Are these opportunities that you're starting to see? I don't know if I really anticipated it or not.

I do know it's helpful not to have a whole lot of expectations, because you don't know how things are gonna change, but, you know, my conception of what it means to be a pastor is only getting richer, you know, but it's not necessarily because of conferences or books, but because of the way the

Lord is maturing things in my life and the lives of others, and then, you know,

I think that that's, I don't know if I really anticipated that or it was kind of like, well, you know, one day

I shall arrive at this level. I had no idea what to expect, really. Okay, Andrew? I grew up as an only child in my parents' home.

I'm thankful to God that He has given me the gift of marriage with my wife, given me the gift of three children now.

These are things that are great reminders from Him that the world didn't start with me and it's not gonna end with me, and it's definitely not about me, and these are great daily reminders that, like you said, previously, responsibilities that God has given you to discharge faithfully are blessings in and of themselves, so I'm thankful for that.

Amen. I'm thankful to God for maturity and that He promises to bring it to pass.

Joe and I were talking before everybody else got here because I got here early for the first time, and we were talking about maturing out of things and maturing out of positions or out of bad attitudes that we might have held in very childish ways in the past, and I was explaining to him a few of the things that the

Lord had matured me out of, but man, do I feel like I have so much more to go, but He promises to mature us and He promises to finish that work, and that we can, we've been talking about work a little bit, and that we can have an impetus, a forcefulness behind us getting our job done because we know our

Lord finishes His work and we should do likewise. And that wraps it up for today.

We are very thankful for our listeners and hope you will join us again as we meet to answer common questions and objections with Having Not Read.